"181 (B182r) - Up From Earth's Center (1949-06) - Lester Dent" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robeson Kenneth)

"Born in Kansas, I would say." And when the official's eyes widened doubtfully, Dr. Karl added quickly, 'A matter of accents. I have studied them. The fellow has really told us almost nothing about himself, except to call him by the name of Gilmore."



"You mean he's too crazy to tell you anything about himself, Doc?"



"Crazy? That's too conclusive a word. His mental state hasn't permitted confidences or explanations"



"Be O.K. if I went out and talked to this Gilmore?"



"Go ahead, if you wish. It will do no harm, and probably no good."



"Then I will," the Customs officer said.



Dr. Karl nodded amiably, then changed the subject by asking, "How is the survey on the Quoddy project coming?"



"That engineer from New York, Renwick, is still around here," the official explained. "But they aren't puffing out any information that I've heard." He eyed the doctor curiously. "You read about it in the newspapers?"



Dr. Karl shook his head, said, "Radio." Then he went to the window, one facing north toward the area that had been the scene, some fifteen years before, of the Quoddy project for harnessing the resources of the terrific Fundy tides. A thin fog veiled the area, but he could see the stony islands that had been intended as an anchor for one of the dams that had never been built because Congress had concluded Quoddy was just so much dream stuff. "I happen to know this engineer, Renwick, and his associate, Doc Savage," Dr. Karl said suddenly. "That was the reason I asked."



The Customs man straightened; interest splashed over him like a stinging bath.



"Doc Savage?" the man repeated. "You're a friend of Doc Savage?"



Dr. Karl turned, lowered a shoulder deprecatingly, explaining, "In a professional sense, only." He prepared to leave, but hesitated when be noticed how the official was staring at him. "Something wrong?"